There are currently 379 active wildfires in B.C., over half of which remain out of control, 85 per cent of the new fires in the last 72 hours have been started by lightning. Current conditions remain hot an dry in the southern regions of the province and as a result we are seeing more fire activity in the Southeast and Kamloops Fire Centres. New wildfires of note in these fire centres, the St.Mary’s River and Casper Creek wildfires have resulted in the implementation of Evacuation Orders and Alerts.
We are extremely grateful for the additional international and federal support that arrived this week to support current staff working on wildfire suppression efforts. New Incident Management Teams (IMTs) from the United States and Australia have been established to support the Cariboo and Prince George Fire Centres where a combined total of 200 fires are currently burning. A total of 150 Canadian Armed Forces personnel arrived to the Prince George Fire Centre this week, these personnel will work alongside firefighters on the firelines to help bring wildfires in the area under control.
Weather
A warm drying trend that started on Wednesday is forecast to continue through the weekend resulting in extreme dry conditions for most of the province. The most southern regions of the province will remain dry over the weekend and maximum temperatures will peak. This may further promote extreme fire behaviour in these regions. There is a chance of fair amounts of precipitation in parts of the northeast in the coming days.